Italy

Giovanni Trapattoni's side have been drawn in Group C along with Sweden, Denmark and Bulgaria.

Italy always seem to make hard work of qualifying for major tournaments and Euro 2004 was no exception, but having finally made it the beaten finalists four years ago head to Portugal among the strong favourites.

But the return to fitness of key players, a change in tactics and an injection of fresh talent ensured that Giovanni Trapattoni's side did eventually win their group.

The centre of midfield was radically altered with Inter Milan's Cristiano Zanetti and Chievo's Simone Perrotta establishing themselves as the holding duo.

Trapattoni also found a replacement for the retired Paolo Maldini at left-back with Juve's Gianluca Zambrotta converted from midfield.

Italy striker Christian Vieri believes his partnership with Francesco Totti will be the best on show at Euro 2004. But to win the European championship two players aren't enough. Even the strikers can't do well if they don't have the support of the entire team.

Reuters

Best performance: Winners in 1968

Recent performances:
1980 Semi-finals
1984 Did not qualify
1988 Semi-finals
1992 Did not qualify
1996 Round one
2000 Runners-up

SQUAD:

Goalkeepers: 1-Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), 12-Francesco Toldo (Inter Milan), 22-Angelo Peruzzi (Lazio)

Defenders: 2-Christian Panucci (AS Roma), 5-Fabio Cannavaro (Inter Milan), 13-Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan), 19-Gianluca Zambrotta (Juventus), 3-Massimo Oddo (Lazio), 6-Matteo Ferrari (Parma), 23-Marco Materazzi (Inter Milan), 15-Giuseppe Favalli (Lazio);

Midfielders: 21-Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan), 4-Cristiano Zanetti (Inter Milan), 20-Simone Perrotta (Chievo Verona), 8-Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), 14-Stefano Fiore (Lazio), 16-Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus)